Life After
by Wendy The Lazy Writer
Summary: AU in which Yoshiki, Ayumi, Yuka and Kizami and the only ones to escape Heavenly Host. Main focus here is Yuka and Kizami. Editing in progress, so new chapters won't be coming out til I settle them.
1. Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Corpse Party. If I did... heh heh heh...

Pairings: Yuka Mochida x Yuuya Kizami, slight Ayumi Shinozaki x Yoshiki Kishinuma

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**Chapter 1: Return**

When Yuka found herself back in her brother's classroom, the first emotion was shock. She was back and alive.

Then almost immediately, that was replaced by grief and a sudden flood of horrifying memories. She could still remember it clearly.

Her brother's battered body lying on the floor. The smile he gave, knowing his sister was safe, even though he must have been in so much pain. The warmth slowly seeping out of his hand as she gripped it tightly.

The blood, oh the blood. There was so much of it.

After going through so much and more, somehow, they managed to escape. They got out of the school before the seventh toll, exhausted and battered, but still alive.

But all that mattered to her was that Satoshi didn't make it. Her beloved brother. Her most precious person. He was dead. He had died in that school. How could she go on? To Yuka, Satoshi had been the center of her world. And now that he was gone, her world was starting to crumble down.

She could only cling onto the nearest person as she cried her tears dry. Yuuya wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to console her. In the background, she could hear Ayumi crying her heart out. Perhaps seeing the younger girl crying released the flood of tears she herself had been trying to hold back. Yuka could care less, though. She was too wrapped up in her own misery to bother about other people at the moment.

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Yuka walked her way home, while Yuuya stayed protectively beside her. When she reached her gate, she bowed, said a polite 'thank you' and went inside. Immediately, her parents were all over her.

"Yuka! You're finally back! Why were you so late?" Her mother said worriedly, hugging her daughter. "I'm sorry, I had a late-night project." Yuka lied. She just wanted to head straight up to her room. "I'm tired, mom. Could we talk about this tomorrow morning?" Her mother looked at her hesitantly, but eventually gave in. "Okay, Yuka. Have a good rest." "I will, mom."

As she was walking up the stairs to her bedroom, her father asked the dreaded question. "Yuka, do you know where Satoshi is? He's not back either." Yuka froze briefly. "He said he had a sleepover with his friend." She quickened her pace. Her tears were threatening to flow again. She quickly ran through Satoshi's room, burst into her room and leaped onto her bed. She quickly buried her face into her pillow, muffling her pained cries.

"Big brother... Big brother... Satoshi..." She repeated over and over. Why did things have to be this way? Why did someone like her big brother have to die? He was too kind to deserve such a fate. "Big brother..."

When she finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep, it was to a world of nightmares.

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Even after escaping Heavenly Host, the four survivors were still tormented by the memories of that place. The scars left were deep.

Ayumi would suddenly burst into tears for no reason at all. Yoshiki became overly protective over Ayumi, almost to the point of paranoia. Yuuya occassionally found his sanity slipping back into the bloodstained hell that was Heavenly Host.

As for Yuka, she was overwhelmed with grief to the brink of collapse. Every night, she was constantly plague by the horrors of the haunted school. However, the worst of it was when she dreamt of her brother. The happy memories only made it worst. In her dreams, they would be enjoying each other's company, and then right infront of her eyes, he would fall to the ground, blood leaking from his head. No matter what she did, she was never able to save him. Yuka could only watch helplessly as his life seeped out of him.

Then she would wake up in tears and cry til morning come. Her parents had woke up to find her crying inconsolably on her bed. Attempts to ask her what happened only seemed to make her more distressed. Worried, they let her stay home for the day.

This went on for a week or so. At the end of the week, her mother came into her room and apologetically told her she couldn't stay away from school anymore. Having no proper reason to tell her parents, Yuka forced herself to go to school.

She went through school in a daze, barely paying attention to the lessons.

One afternoon, as she walked out of school, she saw a familiar figure standing outside the school gate. Yuka quickened her pace and ran up to him. "K-Kizami-san?" She stared up at Yuuya Kizami, surprised. Why would he be here?

He smiled down kindly at her. "Good afternoon, Yuka. How have you been?"

She opened her mouth and hesitated. Should she lie, and say she had been fine? Or should she tell the truth, and say that she had been devastated by the absense of her brother, and had been struggling to get through each day?

"I've been fine." She didn't want to talk about her brother. "...I see." She knew he didn't buy it. She could hear the doubt in his voice. Anyone could see that she hadn't been okay. Yuuya looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yuka, why don't I treat you to something special?"

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Yuuya Kizami wasn't a kind man. But it wasn't out of kindness that he was being so nice to Yuka. It was pity. Without her brother, Yuka seemed on the verge of crumbling, unable to stand on her own. After acting as a big brother figure in Heavenly Host, even after they had escaped, he still felt obliged to continue that role.

It was with this thought that he had decided to wait outside her school gates. "K-Kizami-san?" Turning around, he saw the girl running towards him. He could hear the curiousity in her voice. Afterall, she didn't expect to see him waiting outside the school for her.

"Good afternoon, Yuka. How have you been?" He asked, out of politeness than anything else. "I've been fine," she had replied, and he immediately knew she was lying. Anyone who wasn't blind could see she had been terribly affected by the absence of her brother. She was unlike her usual cheery self. She hardly smiled, and even when she did, it didn't reach her eyes. Even when she was in Heavenly Host, she still had a determined glint in her eye. Now, there was nothing.

In all honesty, he never thought that her brother's death would affect her that much. What he saw infront of him proved otherwise. He decided to bring her to the newly-opened macaroon cafe in town. Perhaps that would cheer her up. Afterall, wasn't that what big brothers were supposed to do?

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"What... are these?" Yuka stared hesitantly at the hamburger-like treats that had just arrived. Yuuya pushed the plate towards her. "Macaroons. You should try them." She poked the colourful hamburgers with a finger, before taking a little nibble. She then took a bigger bite, and then popped the rest of the pastry into her mouth.

As she chewed, Yuka's eyes widened. "It's delicious!" In no time flat, she quickly finished the whole plate. As she licked up the remaining crumbs on her fingers, she realised she felt...happy. Other than her big brother, noone had been this kind to her.

Yuka looked at the man sitting across the table. "Thank you, Kizami-san." And for the first time in a long while, Yuka truly smiled.

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A/N: I've realised it's a bad idea to watch videos and try to write at the same time. I'm much more satisfied with this.

**Edited: 19/5/14**


	2. Rain

**Edited 25 June 2014**

**A/N: I rewrote the second part. Wasn't really...satisfied with it. I should probably work on a new chapter or something xD**

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**Chapter 2: Rain**

Outside the window, rain was pouring down heavily. Occassionally, bright flashes of lightning would light up the sky. Yuka Mochida sat quietly at her desk. Her blue eyes were staring distractedly out of the window, as the teacher rambled on about something that she couldn't bother to listen to in the front of the classroom.

She watched as rivulets of water run down the window, before falling to the ground below. She unconciously pressed a hand onto her heart. The rain brought back painful memories. It reminded her too much of that fateful day, and the horrifying memories that had came with it.

She winced as a particularly loud bolt of lightning rumbled through the sky. Her line of thought broken, Yuka's gaze left the window to look at the freshly distributed worksheet on her desk. She glanced through the passage, and her eyes landed on one line.

_"You are such a scaredy-cat!"_

She felt a smile form on her face as she recalled that one time where Satoshi hid in a closet and refused to come out. He'd opened the door and found himself face to face with a ghost.

_"Noooo, I'm too young to die!" A twelve-year old boy ran from the door tearfully. He hastily stuffed himself in the nearest cabinet and shut the door behind him firmly._

_"...Brother?" A nine-year old Yuka walked over to the cabinet and pulled it open. A trembling Satoshi met her gaze fearfully. "Y-Y-Yuka! There's a ghost at the door!" Yuka stared blankly at her older brother._

_"Brother, it's Halloween."_

_Silence ensued as Satoshi slowly connected the dots in his head. "...Oh." He replied sheepishly. Red-faced, he crawled out of the cabinet and dragged himself to his room. He didn't come out til the next morning. As for Yuka, she was left rolling on the floor infront of the cabinet, laughing til her tummy hurt._

Those were the times...

Then her smile faded as she returned the present. Tears were beginning to gather in the corner of her eyes. Wordlessly, she picked up her pen. Perhaps the work would distract her.

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Rain was an inconvenience. It meant having to carry an umbrella around, though the strong winds made carrying an umbrella almost pointless since you got wet anyway. Yuuya, on the way home from school, was quite thoroughly wet despite the umbrella in his hand. He quickened his pace. He wanted to be out of that torrent as soon as possible.

He was just passing by the park, when something made him stop. He backtracked a bit. Looking in, he recognised a familiar girl in the park. Yuka stood in the middle of it, hardly doing anything to shield herself from the rain.

He rushed over to the girl and sheltered her with her umbrella, though it would hardly make a difference as she was already thoroughly drenched. He crouched down to get to her eye-level, "Yuka, why are you standing in the middle of this downpour? You'll get sick!" He berated her.

She raised her head from the ground and looked at him. "Huh...Kizami-san? Why are you here?" Her voice was tinged with curiousity.

"I was on my way back home when I saw you here." He explained. "Why were you standing in the the rain?" When she offered no response, Yuuya got up to his feet. "Yuka, come to my house. It's nearby, and you'll need to warm up. You wouldn't want to catch a cold."

She simply nodded in response.

He could barely contain the sigh of relief when he reached the house to find nobody home. It'd be rather...troublesome. He ushered her in to the living room and told her to wait while he got something for her to dry herself with. She sat on the couch as she waited for him to return. He soon came back with some fluffy towels in hand and sat down on the couch beside her.

"Here," he said, handing one to her. She accepted it and started to dry herself, as he did too. Once dry enough, they put the towels aside.

"So..." Yuuya started, "Why were you standing in the middle of the rain, letting yourself get drenched like that?"

"I..uh...umm..." Yuka stumbled over her words. "It's complicated." She sighed. "Your brother?" She nods in reply. "...Yeah."

"You seem quite affected by your brother's disappearance." He couldn't help but say.

She flinched. "He was more than a brother to me." She replied. She knew the implications of that sentence. "...I see." It seems that he understood too. They fell into a momentary silence, then Yuka quipped up. "But it's fine. What's past is past right? And now I got you, my dad and mom, Ayumi-san and Yoshiki-san, and all my friends. So it's fine." She smiles.

"It's okay to cry, you know. You lost an important person afterall," he said, but she shook her head. "I'm... tired of crying." She said, and he understood immediately. There were rarely days where he didn't see her without her eyes red from crying. He stood up from his seat. "I'll walk you home." She got up too, and they walk to the door. "Thanks." She smiles up at him.

He knows she's not fine. He can see it, through the cracks in her smile. Though, perhaps one day, when time healed her wounds, she'd truly be fine.


	3. Charm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Corpse Party.**

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**Chapter 3: Charm**

It was during one of their weekly cafe meetings that Yuka first noticed. It had always been there, but Yuka herself didn't notice til that day, when it had become more prominent.

When Yuka met Yuuya at their weekly cafe meeting, she felt that he was acting different than usual. He seemed rather tense, she thought.

"Kizami-san? Are you okay?" She thought she saw his expression darken, but then it disappeared. "I'm okay, Yuka. Don't worry." He reassured her, smiling as he did so.

Despite his reassurance, Yuka still couldn't help but worry about him as she ate her meal. 'Kizami-san has always been so nice to me... Is there something I could do to cheer him up?'

Later, as Yuuya was escorting Yuka back to her house, she asked if she could make a detour.

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Yuuya's relationship with his family had never been pleasant. He couldn't understand why they seemed to distance themselves from him, and it only seemed to get worst as he grew up. His elder sister, Haruna, was the exception, but she only seemed to care about whether or not he behaved himself. They didn't get along well, that was for sure. However, their conflict had gotten particularly bad that morning.

_"Yuuya." Haruna crossed her arms authoratively. "You've been coming home late for awhile now. Surely you are keeping yourself out of trouble?"_

_He ignored her and headed for the door. However, Haruna stepped between him and the door, blocking his path. "Yuuya, I demand an answer."_

_Yuuya's eyes flashed in anger. "It's none of your business, bitch." He could see the flare in her eyes intensify as he pushed past her. As he walked down the driveway, he could hear her yelling at him._

_"Yuuya! How dare you talk to your elder sister like that! That sassy attitude of yours will get you nowhere! Keep this up, and you'll only become more of a good-for-nothing dirtbag than you already are!" _

_He gritted his teeth in anger. "I don't need you to tell me that." He muttered under his breath. "'Sister'?" He scoffed. "All you do is scold me with harsh words, you hypocrite. You're no sister."_

Even after he left home, he still couldn't banish the anger he felt inside of him.

After school had been dismissed, he immediately made his way to the cafe he and Yuka had agreed on. Yuka's lessons ended earlier, which was why she had gone ahead of him to the cafe. When he arrived, he found her already feasting on cake. He sat down and tried to strike up conversation as per normal. However, it seemed that Yuka could sense his foul mood, as she grew progressively quieter throughout their meal. He sighed.

As he led her back to her home, she had asked if he could accompany her to the train station. Sure, he replied. He wasn't eager to go home in any case. Plus, he was curious why Yuka wanted to go to the train station.

When they reached the station, Yuka mumbled a "wait here" before she ran off towards some shops. He leaned on a nearby pillar as he waited for her to return. Minutes later, Yuka returned. Her face was slightly flushed, and she was grasping something in her hand.

"Kizami-san, take this." She unfolded her hand, revealing a small bottle of beads. He took the bottle from her hand and looked at it curiously. The bottle was filled with tiny pink beads. He sniffed, and found that a sweet, berry-like scent was wafting from the bottle.

"It's a good luck charm made of scented beads." She answered his unasked question. "It's strawberry-scented, and it is supposed to bring happiness to the bearer..." She fiddled with her fingers nervously as she thought of how to say her next words. "Umm... I don't know what happened, but you seemed rather upset today... So I would like you to have it, Kizami-san."

He was rendered speechless. Somehow, it never occurred to him that Yuka would care about his feelings. His experience with his siblings had greatly jaded him in his expectations of others. As he turned the bottle around in his hand, he felt the darker feelings ebb away, and they turned into something bright and warm within him.

"...Kizami-san?" Yuka was looking worriedly at him. He just stood there staring at the bottle. Did he not like strawberries? Was the pink colour too girlish for him? Was it too childish for him? She fidgeted anxiously as she thought.

Yuuya smiled at the girl beside him. He bent down. "Thank you, Yuka...I've never received a gift like this before. Thank you." Yuka beamed. Her gift had worked. He looked much better now. "You're welcome, Kizami-san."

Yuuya got up and stretched, feeling much more relaxed than he did previously. "...It's getting pretty late, let's get you home, shall we?" He offered his hand to Yuka.

She slipped her hand into his. "Okay!" She beamed.

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**A/N: Thus cue Kizami's family problems. Personally I think they don't have a good relationship because while they had good intentions, they didn't know how to take into account his sociopathic problems, and it became something like bad miscommunication. I've personally experienced that with my own parents before, and if we didn't decide to have a third party step in, I could see it turning out like Kizami's family...**

**I don't know if I portrayed Kizami's sister as too harsh. She actually says those kind of things though. The good-for-nothing dirtbag was from her dialogue in canon. She has good intentions, but she has trouble keeping her own emotions under check when disciplining him.**


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